How To Take A Punch
by Sakate
Summary: The fight between Danny and Steve after trying to bring in Doran ends badly, and the consequences of it lead Danny to go on his own to solve the case. But when an already unfriendly department becomes dangerously so, will Steve realize his mistakes in time to save Danny and Meka from Hesse?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story began as a musing on the issues Danny may have dealt with after first joining HPD, and that scene in the first episode where he clocks Steve in the face. Love that scene. Anyways, it sort of transformed from a little snapshot of that scene going wrong into an entire AU rewrite of the first episode. And unlike my other stories where the outlines are done (but nothing has been written/fleshed out), this one is finished all the way to the very last chapter/scene.

Steve held his face in momentary shock as he heard the short mainlander's snide retort.

"You're right, I don't like you very much."

"Son of a—" But instead of letting the punch cool down his temper, instead it snapped something inside him. Before what he knew he was doing, he reached out and grabbed the back of the man's shirt, slamming him up against the front hood of the police cruiser.

"Hey...!"

"You know what? That's it. I'm done with an ignorant haole who doesn't know shit about this island—"

"Excuse me? Am I hearing this right? You were the one who forced me to come with you—"

"-and you have no right to be in charge of my father's case—my FATHER'S CASE—"

"You are not even a cop, how do you even know—"

Their shouting escalated over each other, as the other cops and passer-byers stared.

Steve shoved harder, pinning the shorter man down. "You're just some worthless reject from the mainland, who's never gonna get it, will you? That was our only lead, now gone! This is my investigation, and you're out now, alright?" He released him after one final shove, stepping back.

"Hey, you. Just get him off my crime scene, and get him out of my face before I break his." Steve gestured to the other two cops, one stepping forward and placing a cautious hand on Danny's arm with a frown. Furious, he shrugged off the hand and stalked away to his car, driving off with a squeal of tires.

Steve breathed heavily through his nostrils. One of the two cops hesitated, then asked "Sir, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said dismissively.

"One of us would be happy to lend you a cruiser so you can go wherever you need to go for the investigation. Detective McGarrett was a good man..."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Steve nodded, sighing. He was finally cooling down now that the Jersey cop had left. Steve knew he should've apologized...he had dragged the poor man into all this, and even after all that the man had saved his life and killed the suspect they might've captured successfully had he just called for backup. His father's death weighed heavily on him. It was hard to make good decisions when he felt like every minute that ticked by was another minute wasted.

Well. He would apologize. Just after he found Hesse and put him to justice.

He didn't notice the looks of sympathy the two officers shared, or the irritation in their eyes at a certain cop who had just left the scene.

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Danny sighed. He wanted Meka back. The man wasn't a close friend, or at least wasn't yet (he was trying to stay hopeful), but he had gotten along with the man reasonably well so far. He was pretty sure Meka didn't hate him anyways. Goddamn his stupid freaking mouth.

An abrupt shove to his shoulder suddenly made him refocus. The cop who had so rudely pushed him into the locker looked down on him for a brief moment then snorted in disgust as he continued on through the narrow space. What the hell? Danny was so surprised he didn't even think up a retort at the stupid schmuck. What was this, high school? What had he done to that guy to deserve such a look? He didn't even recognize the man.

Gingerly changing out of his button down, he slid a fresh one on, a light cotton one which was much nicer in the humid air and—key fact—was free of his blood. He left the tie off, stuffing it in a pocket. Stepping out of the changing room and back over to his desk, he let out a small groan at the amount of paperwork that had piled up. He knew as a new cop to the precinct, and as a "haole" as the rest of the natives in the office called him, he'd have to deal with stupid shit. Grunt work, the cases no one wanted. The only reason he'd been assigned to the case involving the death of John McGarrett was that Chief Mahaka knew he could provide a fresh, unbiased look on things, and to see how he did solo while his partner, Meka, was out in LA attending a court hearing for an old case he'd help solve. The fact that it had been handed to him over some of the more senior detectives had not gone over well.

"Glad to see all that crap about ohana actually means something..." he muttered to himself, shuffling through the files. He was good at what he did. The best. But this was going to take a lot of time, and something about McGarrett's case was still niggling in the back of his brain. Why he still cared was beyond him. That pompous brickhead was a menace, and there was no love lost in shedding him from his life.

He could understand the man's concern...well, perhaps that was what was bothering him. Steve McGarrett was intelligent and driven, but also too involved. He wouldn't see things if he couldn't think clearly. And right now, Danny knew, the man was not thinking clearly. He sighed. There was nothing left to do but finish the paperwork as fast as he could, and then fit in as much time as he could around his schedule looking more closely at the murder of John McGarrett. The man was a cop. He owed him that much to do his best in finding his killer.

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Three days later, Danny was beside himself with rage. Samples he had submitted suddenly had become worthless. His request for blood work to be done? Pushed to backlog due to a sudden influx of "higher priority" cases. What cases? No one on the force was doing anything particularly time sensitive that he knew of.

He had thought the first six months were bad, but the treatment he'd been getting around the office was rapidly deteriorating...he'd called for backup on a check-in for a case, and he'd spent ten minutes repeating himself over the radio and fending off snide remarks and questions over whether or not he'd been at the right location, or gotten the name of the street correct. In that time the suspect had managed to spot him and escaped out the back door of the complex, rendering the attempt to bring him in worthless. His car? Egged. With several dozen cartons of eggs by the look of it. Which is why his car was squeaky clean and fresh from three trips through the car wash when he pulled up in the arrivals dock at the Honolulu airport. But the worst thing that had happened to date was being cornered in the locker room by four fellow officers after a long shift...well, they all had bruises to show for that little chat. He'd given as good as he got.

"Danny. Thanks for picking me up, man." Meka opened the car door and popped in, smiling gently at the frazzled looking detective. He slung a duffel into the back of the camero.

"Yeah, well, your wife was busy picking up Billy from school, so I figured I could lend a hand. I know how it is."

"Well mahalo. How's Grace by the way?"

"Grace? Grace is good...going to be heading out of the country for a bit soon...her mom's taking her and step-stan off to the UK to visit family there."

"Ah, she'll have a blast. The wife loves Europe, especially. Went to Paris on our honeymoon..." Meka began to say with a sappy smile on his face. He saw the glum expression on his partner's face, however, and changed the subject.

"Anything exciting happen while I was away?"

Danny grimaced. "You don't want to know."

Meka stared. "...was it something you did?" he asked hesitantly. Sure enough, The Jersey cop let out what had clearly been on his mind for a while.

"What did I do? What didn't I do? Apparently, being a good cop and following procedures means nothing against the opinions of a local boy. He's not even a goddamn cop! Or he wasn't, but now he's got this special task force and I can't tell if the department worships him more because he's got immunity to do the things they wish they could do or because he's John McGarrett's son—"

"Woah, slow down brother. John McGarrett's son?" Meka looked confused. "He's a Navy SEAL..."

"Well now apparently the governor's made a special task force, and he's leading it. It wouldn't bother me normally, except he took the case away from me and dragged me around the island forcing me to help him. Then he got me SHOT, and then he kicked me off the case. All in the same freaking day. Unbelievable. And the best part is the whole department thinks I'm some sort of asshole who doesn't care when cops get murdered, and—"

"Hey. Stop for a minute so I can get my head wrapped around all of this." Meka interrupted him with sigh, holding a hand up defensively as Danny paused, glowering at him.

"Let me ask you some questions to clarify. So first off...are you okay? You said you got shot." He asked calmly, hoping his own demeanor would have a soothing effect on Danny's heightened state of irritation.

Danny huffed, carding a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine, it was a deep graze to the arm, nothing serious. A bit of soreness from the dumbass grabbing that same arm and twisting it behind my back then shoving me into the side of the car..."

"What? In front of other cops?" Meka asked incredulously.

"Well..." Danny blushed. "I may have been yelling at him, before the arm thing...then I punched him after that, which he deserved! Then he shoved me. I left after he kicked me off the case."

"Jesus, man..." Meka sighed. "You really shot yourself in the foot with that one. No wonder you're getting so much crap..."

"It just pisses me off..." Danny muttered, sounding somewhat apologetic. "If it were you or me, a case that close? If it was your parents, or someone I knew, we wouldn't be let anywhere near the case. You get too close, you get too short sighted, and you don't do it right. McGarrett was a mess, and even with immunity he's all over the place. What if one of his mistakes gets someone killed?"

"I know, partner. But this case...it's a close one for all of us." Meka tried to explain.

"Except me."

And now Meka nodded slowly in agreement. "Except you. Which is why you were assigned to John McGarrett's murder case in the first place."

"Yeah, and I found the lead on Doran. We could've brought him in too, except stupid Super SEAL decided he'd rather go in alone than wait for backup. Doran could've killed me with that shot, could've killed his girlfriend who I was trying to restrain. He had a gun to a woman's head then was reaching to shoot McGarrett and would've except I was there to put him down. The man is in way over his head."

Meka winced. "Christ. That bad huh?"

Danny glowered at the road in front of him. "I know he kicked me off the case, officially. But...for the love of God, someone has to do the right thing and bring his father to justice."

"But now you're being cock-blocked by every cop in the station." Meka said, more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah. You know how it was when I first got in. But now...it was getting a little better, but it's gotten worse since you've been gone." he admitted softly, hands tightening on the steering wheel.

Meka shook his head. "Danny...I'm sorry, man. You don't deserve that shit." Not for the first time, the Hawaiian wondered at the blatant rejection and level of hazing Danny had gone through.

"I don't mind missing the social stuff. You know I can't really afford to do much of it, not with helping support Grace, but... the high school locker room behavior..."

"I'm going to the chief, soon as we get back." Meka said roughly, anger growing as he imagined exactly what sort of behavior had been going on.

"No."

Meka looked at Danny in surprise. "No? You can't just roll over on this, brother. That's harassment."

"Okay, so let's say you go to the chief. The chief disciplines the two or three guys who did the worst damage, but what then? More guys getting bitter, but doing things smarter. Or worse, I get asked to transfer. I can't move again, Meka, I can't even go over to another island without having to give up visitation rights to see my daughter. And I can't lose Grace. I can't. She's all I got." Danny's voice got more distraught as he went on.

Meka didn't know what to do. Sure, Danny was loud. Acerbic and stubborn as a mule. But he was also a good cop. A good father. Meka knew that the fiery personality made for an equally passionate friend, once he trusted someone enough to let them in. Moving had been hard on the mainlander, even harder considering it had been done while trying to get over a difficult divorce. It was probably why the man was fighting so hard against everything here; the food, the culture, even the weather. It was all so foreign, with none of the things he probably found comforting under normal circumstances.

"Alright. But if things get any worse, we're going to the chief. Together." He insisted.

"Okay. Thanks...partner." Danny looked over at the Hawaiian with a small smile. "...I am still working on the case...in my spare time, anyways. Got an idea on a lead I want to follow...would you be interested in coming with?"

"Someone's gotta keep you out of trouble, newbie." Meka said teasingly, and Danny chuckled.

"Let's get you home, then I'll bring you up to speed..."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: reading through this next chapter, it occurred to me that is has been a very long time since I've watched the first episode, so just fair warning - this is AU and any little details you think I got wrong I probably have, either intentionally or unintentionally! I may go back and do some editing if I change my mind about little things in the chapter, who knows. For the next week the goal is to wrap up the ending to my other Hawaii Five-0 fic, and (very unlikely but still possible) another chapter of my Firefly fic. :)

To the people who reviewed/commented, I adore all of you, thank you for your support and input! Enjoy the next chapter everyone and let me know what you think.

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"So he's got ties to smuggling? Think he's hiding out in the docks somewhere?" Meka said, looking over the notes and evidence Danny had collected.

"Yeah. I mean, it's a logical conclusion to jump to. Biggest illegal trade is with China. Proximity, you know? So I figure, we scope out the boats and freighters heading to China in the next week. He's probably aware of the sting on Doran, he'll be looking to get out quick, but maybe not too quickly lest he draw attention to himself. I'd question the dock workers, but it's too risky. If any of them are in on it, they could tip him off and we'd lose our chance."

"Right. We spook this guy, we're screwed...but Danny, we gotta handle this carefully. I trust your instincts, but just the two of us? Not officially on the case, not officially on the clock...if things go wrong, and we're the reason this guy does run...?"

Danny sighed. "I know. I know. A lot of things can go wrong...and if they do, that's on me. I'm not dragging you through the mud with me, Meka, I just want to get this guy and his son some justice. The right kind of justice. Because you know the minute McGarrett finds this Hesse guy he's dead, right?"

Meka nodded.

"That, to me, is not justice. That is revenge. McGarrett may think he wants revenge, but dead is dead. And the whole case, the whole murder...I dunno man, it just stinks of something bigger. It'd be better for everyone if this guy gets captured and put behind bars where he belongs."

Danny dragged a hand over his face, eyes tired from pouring over details all night.

"Worst case scenario, you were not with me. You and me, we were doing different things. I'm not letting Billy grow up without a father just because he was unlucky enough to get partnered with a hard headed dumbass who was stupid enough to risk his job over a case he isn't a part of."

"Hey. I'm not letting you do this alone." Meka reminded him.

"I know. And I appreciate it. I just want to make sure you don't regret it." Danny responded with a worried look in his eyes.

"So let's do this smart."

"Okay. Here's what I think we should do..."

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Steve had gotten nowhere with Sang Min. Even with the low blow Steve tried to push with his wife and son. The snakehead refused to answer their questions, spitting at them and remaining silent. So now he had the poor man tied to a chair in their interrogation room while he fumed and tried to think of a new angle, anything that he could say or do to get the little weasel to talk.

Kono and Chin conversed quietly across the room from him; Kono was studying up for her final exams with the HPD academy, and Chin was guiding her through some test questions. She'd make a good cop, he knew.

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Two hours into the stakeout the next evening a man caught Meka's eye. Lean, 5'11". Head suspiciously covered up by a hood, headed with hands in pockets towards a freighter. All the freight workers had headed home for the evening; only fishing boat crews worked night shifts. Things were already looking promising.

He nudged Danny and pointed out the figure, passing his binoculars.

"The Edmund H...when's that one shipping out again?"

Meka checked the copy of the records they'd skimmed from the port.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Shit. So we don't got much time..." Danny cursed.

"Well ok then. Let's get in a bit closer on foot with the camera equipment. If we can get a visual on any suspect activity on the freighter, we can call it in."

And that was when everything went to hell.

They had waited ten minutes after the man had boarded before quietly moving towards the boat. Meka held the camera equipment, Danny his firearm held low and to the side so it wouldn't reflect towards the boat from the occasional lighting around them.

"I need to get up high." Meka hissed at him. "Otherwise I can't get a shot of the upper deck or interior with the lens."

Danny had given him a leg up so the big man could scale part of a fence up to the top of a cargo box. Laying low, he began snapping shots.

"Got everything?" Danny said quietly as Meka propped himself back up in preparation to get over the edge of the cargo container and shimmy back down to the ground.

Meka opened his mouth but before he could say anything a shot rang out and a bullet tore through his extended leg. He cried out and tumbled, Danny throwing his weapon to the side and breaking his fall as best he could. Both men fell to the ground with a thud.

"Guhhh..." he clung to the leg, blood flowing steadily. Danny grabbed at his curled figure, head whipping around to make sure that no one would immediately shoot at them from their position.

"Let me see, Meka. Come on..." Danny let out a growl in frustration. "Okay, it's a through and through." Thudding steps began to draw near.

"Okay, let's go, let's go...you need to walk, Meka, we gotta go." The man moaned as Danny dragged him upward, propping him up as they limped away. They rounded the corner of another cargo box. Bullets whizzed by, pinging off metal and ricocheting. Danny threw Meka forward against the wall then turned, firing off shots into the dark where he saw movement. Meka fumbled with the camera, popping the SD card out and shoving it into an evidence bag and into his pocket before pulling his gun from his thigh holster.

"I didn't know they saw me...must've been a guy higher up I missed." Meka groaned.

"Or they had video cameras. Dock workers could've spotted us. Either way it wasn't your fault." Danny shot back. He tried to keep the shaking in his hands and arms at bay. Flashbacks to a day long ago where similar circumstances had killed his partner flooded his head. He couldn't think about that. Couldn't panic or freeze. He needed to think clearly if he was going to get them out of this alive.

"Meka, you got your radio? Call for backup."

More shots fired. Meka fumbled for the radio at his belt.

"Shit. Must've unclipped when I fell."

Danny swore. "Okay. Cover me."

They traded places, Meka kneeling on one knee as Danny grabbed his radio.

"This is officer Williams, pier 28, at the Oahu eastern port. Shots fired, officer injured. Request for immediate backup."

"psszzt...sorry officer Williams, please repeat?" A voice crackled after a pause.

"This is officer Williams. Pier 28. Oahu. Eastern. Port. Request for immediate backup."

"..."

Danny was livid. What was taking so long?

"I repeat, request for immediate backup. Officer down."

"...confirm location, please." Meka fired more shots then pulled away, looking at his partner, face contorted in agony.

"They're getting closer." He said through gritted teeth. "What's taking so long?"

But Danny knew. His worst fears were coming to fruition and his stomach dropped at the realization.

"Pier 28. Oahu Eastern Port. Multiple suspects. Please. Send. Backup. We can't move from our current position."

"..."

No response. Danny thought quickly, glancing around. It may be the only way to get them out of this alive..

"Okay, Meka, swap with me."

They swapped, Danny shoving the radio into his partner's hands and firing shots wildly around the corner before taking a pause.

"You gotta lower yourself into the water." He pulled at his waist, removing his belt and throwing it to the man. "Use that to slow the blood. Get in the water, swim under the pier where they can't shoot at you..."

"But—"

"Don't argue with me, just do it. Keep calling for backup when you've found a safe spot, I have a feeling you'll have more luck with dispatch. just GO NOW. I'll be in the water right behind you."

Meka shook his head in disbelief but quickly wrapped his leg, gritting his teeth as he tightened the belt. Dragging himself to the edge of the pier, he tried to lower himself into the water as quietly as possible. With any luck, the men shooting at them wouldn't hear that they'd gone into the water and would be confused long enough for the two men to find a good enough hiding spot to avoid getting killed.

But they were grossly outnumbered, and before Danny knew it he'd shot one man only to run out of bullets and was tackled by another who had finally gotten too close. The man's gun was kicked out of his grasp as Danny flailed wildly, managing to throw him backwards into another goon. He got back up and bull rushed Danny, managing to shove him up against the cargo box. The back of Danny's head thudded up against the metal, momentarily causing his vision to blacken. Dizzy he fell to the ground, trying to kick at anything nearby. A thud and a grunt told him he'd managed to sweep someone's feet, but as he attempted to stand back up a sharp pain suddenly cut into his arm, then he cried out as a knife was plunged into his side. He fell back, stumbling and his breath caught as the back of his heel caught the edge of the pier.

He went into the water with a loud splash.

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Meka's heart dropped when he saw his partner plunge into the water just a few yards away from him. He knew if he made an attempt to grab the man, he'd risk alerting the smugglers to the fact that he was still there. But Danny had never given any indication that he knew how to swim, and if he'd been injured...

An arm popped up out of the water and he grabbed at it, holding onto a pier pillar with one arm and leaning out to pull Danny under the pier. Danny gasped, unable to remain quiet.

Male voices rang out above them and Meka knew they didn't have much time before they were found. Danny thrashed and shook, quickly going into shock from being stabbed. He shoved the evidence bag and the radio up, wedging them between a support beam under the pier. Clutching Danny to him he felt for the wound. Danny sobbed when his hand found the spot and he applied pressure.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry...I know it hurts...you gotta stay with me buddy. Come on...for Grace. Stay with me."

Meka was almost relieved when he saw men in a small motorboat approach, flashlights shining. His leg could barely support the two of them in the water. They'd die in mere minutes trapped here, and he'd much rather be put down quickly than drown, he thought morbidly.

But to his surprise, the boat approached and guns were lowered as hands roughly grabbed the two of them, dragging them on board.

His thoughts were silenced with a sharp blow to the head, and darkness rushed in.

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Steve groaned, head in hands. It was late. Really late. And they'd made absolutely no progress. Sang min was now drowsing lightly as he sat upright still restrained to the chair.

A hand suddenly gripped his shoulder, catching his attention. It was Chin, looking down on his sorry form with empathy in his expression.

"Kono's taking a quick catnap, brother. Let's go get some coffee, then we'll get back to it, eh?"

Steve nodded glumly and let his legs follow the Hawaiian down the steps. He really wished they could move out of HPD and into their more permanent headquarters at the palace.

When they entered the bullpen, there was something strange going on. The cops on the night shift were huddled around the dispatch desk, and as they got closer, both men picked out several words.

"Stupid haole...what the hell...docks..."

The man at the radio dispatch desk was looking petrified. The reason why became clear as Steve realized a cop had a firm grip on the man's hand, holding it down on the phone and preventing him from responding.

"What's going on here?" He demanded, walking over to them with Chin trailing behind silently.

"Nothing, sir." Another cop responded rudely, then looked away cowed as Steve glared at him.

"Really? You're going to give me that? What. Is. Going. On." He looked solidly at the dispatch officer and the man holding him down.

"I...I.." the dispatch officer stuttered.

"We were just waiting to hear back from a patrol vehicle before responding to a request, sir." The man released his grip on the dispatch officer's hand, glaring back at Steve.

"What was the request?" Chin asked, tone deceptively mild.

The man gritted his teeth. "A call for backup from the docks...they weren't even on duty, it's probably nothing."

Steve raised an eyebrow at this. "Excuse me? They called for backup, on duty or not. What the hell is going on down there?"

The dispatcher had finally gathered up enough courage to respond and interrupted before the other officer could get in another word.

"Officers Hanamoa and Williams requested backup a minute ago reporting gunfire and an officer down. Multiple suspects."

"What?" Steve exclaimed. He stared at the men, who now all appeared sheepish. "Who's on patrol? Why the hell are you waiting to respond?"

"You don't—" The glaring cop tried to begin.

"What's the location?" Steve barked at the dispatcher.

"Oahu Eastern Port, Pier 28."

"I want at least two units following. Immediately, you understand?" He looked around, finally seeing heads nod. "Let's go. You. Follow up with the patrol car and send them to the scene. Let the two know help is on the way."

And with a whirl Steve headed out of headquarters, Chin close on his heels. They hopped into the car and Steve drove off, Chin grabbing the radio. "Okay. Dispatch, you able to get a hold of officers Hanamoa or Williams?"

"No sir. I just hailed them. They haven't responded since the last request three minutes ago."

"Shit." Chin muttered.

"Who's the patrol car en route? What's your eta?"

"...ten minutes, Sergent." A new voice responded over static.

"Chin, you know either of the two officers?" Steve asked as they swerved around another street corner.

"Well Hanamoa's a local boy...never met Williams. You have though, right?" Chin asked, a confused look on his face.

"...Williams? What's his first name?"

"Daniel. The haole you kicked off our case?" Chin sighed. Steve had a one track mind.

"Danny? What's he doing out at the docks this time of night off duty?"

"No idea, man. Let me call Kono, ask her to look up the cases they've been assigned to."

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"Sorry Boss, nothing's sticking out at me. Apparently Officer Hanamoa just got back on Tuesday from the mainland. They weren't working on any cases that had to do with illegal trading or would bring them down to the docks for surveillance."

Chin frowned at Kono's statement. "Okay...so let's look at this a different way. We know they were looking into something, otherwise they wouldn't be down there in the first place. If it's not something they're working on right now, could it be another case in the precinct?"

"Well technically we are." Kono's voice piped up over the phone.

Steve looked at Chin. "Sang min?" he queried.

"Yeah boss, he's the only current smuggler we have in custody that has suspected ties to the docks."

"And he was the original investigator on your father's murder." Chin murmured thoughtfully.

"What, so you think he was still trying to work the case on the side?" Steve asked incredulously.

"We'll find out. ETA two minutes."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: onto chapter 3! Thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter; I don't normally get many reviews, so I appreciate the feedback and words of encouragement. :)

James Marsters makes for such a great bad guy...you could cut yourself on those cheekbones! It was fun writing his character's dialogue, hopefully I did it justice.

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Meka came to slowly, feeling hands pull and tug on his body. The sensation of being shoved against a hard surface. A chair. He was being tied to it, and instinct caused him to open his eyes, struggling weakly.

The room was nondescript. Grimy, probably the inside of a boat given the lack of windows and a faint rocking sensation only felt when on the water. The hands released his arms and he pulled, feeling the tension in the rope and testing it. No luck. Too tight. He shifted a pounding head around and blanched at the sight of his partner passed out beside him, grimy cloth tied around his waist and the stab wound bleeding sluggishly through the makeshift bandage.

His leg wound fared slightly better...the makeshift tourniquet seemed to have stemmed the flow of blood enough for it to have clotted.

The man who had tied him down left without a word, and Meka tested his throat. Sore, but usable.

"Danny...hey...Danny." He prodded, looking for any signs of the man waking up.

"Danny, come on, wake up..."

"I believe I can assist with that. I'd like to speak with him as well..."

A voice drawled in a thick accent. Meka hadn't noticed him enter with two thugs close behind him, flanking him on either side.

The man's face was pale with sharp cheekbones and an even sharper gaze. A face he had seen, taking pictures of activity on the boat. Meka gulped inwardly. Hesse. Shit.

Hesse slapped Danny across the face, eliciting a small groan from the man as he blearily forced his eyes open to see what was going on. Grinning, he grabbed Danny's head, yanking it up so their eyes would meet.

"Detective Daniel Williams. Can I call you Danny? I heard you were looking for me."

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"Three bodies located...no sign of officers Hanamoa or Williams." Chin reported to dispatch. They had arrived too late. The docked freighter was empty. The bodies were still warm enough that they couldn't have died more than twenty minutes ago. Right about the time the calls came in for backup, Chin guessed. Five minutes could have prevented the two officers from vanishing into thin air. He swore silently to himself.

Steve, however, was swearing at anyone who came within five feet of him. He was livid. Chin walked over to him, wincing. "Hey. Just got off the line with dispatch. They're sending CSI down right now to collect evidence."

"Why were they still working on the case? What the hell was he thinking?"

Chin sighed. "I don't know. But I do know whatever they thought was probably right, because they definitely stumbled onto something."

Steve growled, clearly frustrated.

"Excuse me, commander McGarrett?"

"What?" he snapped.

"The divers found something under the pier."

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"You know, I first heard about you when you shot my associate, Doran, in the head."

Danny could've sworn he saw stars at the blow Hesse had delivered to his face. Of course, he'd just spit at the man, so...

"Quite the shot. Very impressive. But I was a bit surprised when my men dredged you up from the water that my good friend Steven wasn't with you. You can't have gone your separate ways already?" Hesse inquired in a mild mannered tone, as if he was asking someone for the time of day.

Danny just stared up at the man, blue eyes flashing in anger.

"Oh ho ho...pushed a button then, have I? Or maybe he pushed a few of yours...a demanding son of a bitch, he is. Sent you off to check out a potential location without him because you killed one of the people he wanted to question? Thank you for that, by the way. Not that Doran could've told you where I was, but then that begs the question. How. Did. You. Locate. Me?"

"You...at the docks...you left a fucking neon sign, practically...saw it from HPD." Danny wheezed.

Suddenly a slender blade appeared in Hesse's hand. A blade that reappeared in Danny's left shoulder. He howled in agony.

"Danny!"

Meka couldn't help himself. This man was going to torture his partner to death, and there was nothing he could do about it tied to the chair. A flunkie slapped him across the face.

"Shut up."

"Hey..." Danny slurred in pain. "Leave him alone."

"It was a simple question, Danny boy...how did you figure out where I was? Which boat I was on?"

'Plain dumb luck?', Danny thought to himself. 'Good investigative work, mixed in with a couple hunches? Hours spent at the docks in a spot where they could monitor the most amount of boats of interest?' Hesse would kill both of them if he had the slightest idea they'd really been that alone. That stupid. Hesse was looking for a potential mole, so Danny would give him an imaginary one.

"...I can't tell you. You'll kill him, and then you'll kill us." he muttered, breaking his gaze and looking away.

Meka held his breath. They had no informant. What was Danny trying to play?

Hesse frowned, clearly thinking about the implications of his next words.

"Honestly, I had intended to do just that. But you interrupted unfinished business, and I need to stick around Hawaii long enough to get it accomplished. I suppose a little information, a little counter surveillance of your own might be enough for one of your lives..."

"...what...what's so important that you're sticking around when there's an ex-Navy SEAL commander hunting you down?" Danny asked confused.

Hesse was silent. "A mole, for one...a loose end I'd prefer not to leave alive. Bad for business. And...my brother's body. I want it back from HPD. I know he was cremated then brought here. The first only requires a little bit of information from you. A name. Two words. The second requires a few more words about access into HPD and information on when and where I can send my men in to retrieve what belongs to me."

"And we if don't give you what you want?"

"You both die. Immediately."

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"SD card was intact. We pulled what appears to be surveillance images from the docks. You won't believe who's on them." Chin stated when Steve had stalked up to his makeshift desk.

"Hesse. That son of a bitch."

"I don't know how, but they managed to put things together and from the looks of it must have been monitoring over half a dozen different boats yesterday for signs of Hesse. I think what happened is when they found him, they tried getting closer for better intel but got spotted and then ambushed."

"Why didn't they have anyone else with them? Why didn't they pull back and call for backup?" Steve wondered out loud.

"Well they did. Just not until the shooting started. Those men in the office? Apparently they had been intentionally stalling a response for backup. The initial call came in a good eight minutes before we walked in." Chin stated, voice cold. "The Captain has all six men on unpaid suspension. They aren't getting away with this kind of bullshit again."

"Why...why would they even do something like that?" Steve was even more confused.

"Detective Williams is the first transfer from the mainland that HPD has had in over five years." Kono wandered over, looking disgusted. "It turns out there some pretty hard feelings when he was put into homicide immediately, and then given the case on your father."

"They...they were jealous?"

"Pretty much." Chin confirmed. "When we questioned some of the officers, they admitted pretty quickly how they felt about a loud mouth Haole coming into the department and stirring things up. Williams' personality rubbed them up the wrong way I was told, which probably didn't help."

Steve snorted at this. "He was definitely very willing to express his opinions."

"Yeah, well, I would be too with his track record. 87 convictions made in his time with the New Jersey PD. Convictions, not arrests. Assisted with the take down of a dirty cop – his own mentor. Testified against him in court and everything. The man's wrapping up a ten year prison sentence. During his short time with the HPD so far he's closed eleven cases with his partner, detective Meka Hanamoa. Before that, Hanamoa was closing maybe one homicide case a month."

"Brah knows his shit." Kono murmured, impressed.

"Hanamoa seems to have been the only cop who was willing to take him as a partner. The stuff that went on...that is some serious hazing and personal harassment. If Williams had reported it earlier, he could have sent a lot of heads rolling in the precinct."

"So why didn't he?" Steve asked, brow raised.

"I don't know." Chin sighed. "I can guess he was probably hoping it would all blow over eventually, and it sounds like it would have, until he got kicked off the case."

"Wait, what did that have to do with anything?" Steve protested.

Chin looked at him oddly.

"You shoved him against a police cruiser. AFTER you physically restrained him, and he punched you for it. Three police officers and multiple people on scene at Doran's place saw you two duking it out. Who do you think they sided with? The rude and ignorant Haole, or John McGarrett's decorated military son, who had just been given a task force with immunity and means most cops would give a leg for?" his tone was chiding, as if he couldn't believe Steve didn't realize the impact of his actions that day.

"You restrained him after he saved your life?" Kono exclaimed, looking surprised. Steve's stomach dropped at Chin's words. If he was to blame for the two men getting captured and probably killed...

He ran a hand over his face, tired. "I know. Shit, I know. I messed up. So I assume that was the main reason those guys were blocking dispatch...?"

"Pretty much." Chin confirmed softly. "I hate to say it, but five minutes earlier and they probably would have managed bunker down long enough until help showed. But without assistance? They didn't stand a chance."

Steve sighed. "What does CSI have to report?"

"Blood traces. It looks like the two were pinned in between cargo boxes trying to hold out, then must've either tried hiding in the water or were forced over the dock into it. That's why the SD card and radio were hidden under the pier. They couldn't have gotten to it unless one of them had been under there swimming, but divers reported no signs of bodies in the water, so for now we can assume they didn't remain there." Kono looked through her notes.

"...the dock security reports did show several boats that left the harbor between the first initial call to dispatch and our arrival time. We'll need to put in a request to track them down; it's very likely when Hesse decided to escape, he left by boat. If he had tried to leave the docks in a vehicle, we would've run straight into them when we were en route."

Steve nodded. "Okay. Give me the names of the boats, I'm going to call a friend. She can track their locations down a lot faster than the resources we've got at HPD."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So...things are going to get worse for Danny before they get better! I made a couple quick edits to the previous chapter; little grammatical things that I didn't like after going back and re-reading everything (nothing that changes the actual plot). Enjoy, let me know your thoughts/constructive suggestions~~

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"...and if I say go fuck yourself?" Danny met Hesse's eyes dead on.

Hesse chuckled. "Ballsy fellow aren't you? Then I would do this."

A boot suddenly kicked out hard against Danny's chest, knocking him backwards with enough force that the flimsy wooden chair broke under the weight and pressure.

Danny thrashed wildly, chest heaving as he gasped for breath, winded from the fall. A hand grabbed his hair and panic rushed through his system. 'Not again not again not again not again not again not again'

A voice broke through, and the unfamiliar accent made him freeze. This wasn't New Jersey. This wasn't a warehouse. But it was so similar that he could feel himself tear up, heart aching as memories flooded back. He couldn't lose another partner. He couldn't bear to see Meka killed like Grace, utterly helpless to stop it.

"Listen very carefully. I want a name. You're going to give it to me. Your friend here? He's going to get shot in a limb for each minute you waste. And I'm counting the head as the fifth limb, just so you know."

"P'lease..." Danny wheezed. Air wasn't coming into his lungs fast enough. His head throbbed, having hit the floor hard without any ability to brace himself. Faintly he thought he could hear his partner's voice in the back of his mind, although he couldn't tell what he was saying. Or shouting? Another hand clasped his shoulder to bodily drag him up to his knees. He could barely stay upright, legs trembling dangerously. The hand gripping his hair tightly remained, and Danny didn't know if he was more concerned about it or relieved that it kept him steady.

The sound of punching snapped his mind back to reality. Meka was getting his face bashed in by one the goons, and Hesse was standing above him, attention momentarily focused on the other detective.

Danny snapped, his mind going blank as white hot rage flooded through him. With strength he didn't know he still had, he used a leg to push forward in a bull rush, catching Hesse with enough speed that he was pushed back into the wall, Danny's non-planted leg shoving forward and up to catch the man in a rather sensitive area. Now multiple pairs of hands grabbed at him, throwing him back to the ground. His vision blacked out for a moment, and suddenly he couldn't breathe, a hard pressure pressing down heavily on his neck. Someone's boot, he managed to figure out. Another voice angrily shouted, and the boot was withdrawn. As he gasped for air, he couldn't help but laugh rather hysterically.

Hesse was once again standing above him, his expression livid. His awkwardly cramped posture let Danny know his knee had done enough damage to the man's nether regions to make it worth the effort.

"Get the other cop out of here. We only need one of them alive to get us into HPD tomorrow."

Meka shouted and struggled, but it was no use. The two goons dragged him up and out of his chair, leaving Hesse with only one man who was guarding the doorway.

Hesse sighed, glaring down at the cop. He twisted his neck from side to side, a small grin beginning to form as he saw the fear and hatred in the man's eyes.

"You I am going to enjoy killing slowly..."

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"Thanks Cath. I owe you dinner and a beer." Steve said as he hung up the phone.

"My contact in naval intelligence say the aerial footage show one boat headed out to sea. It's a fishing boat, and no flags on the captain or crew. The second is a derelict MPV – looks like it used to haul inter-island cargo but was decommissioned five years ago. It's moored about ten miles offshore, not docked, and has been for at least five hours. Captain's name is a fake – the man died several years ago."

"So that's our boat." Kono said excitedly.

"Right. But how are we going to get to it? They're going to see a boat or helicopter from miles away if they're keeping watch." Chin crossed his arms, frowning in thought.

"That's why we'll run an amphibious raid with aerial support a few clicks off their radar. Catherine's going to patch in to give us intel as we proceed on body counts and any movement. Let's pack up and move out, guys. We don't have any time to waste."

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"Anyone mention to you that ties are a terrible idea when you're in combat?" Hesse asked nonchalantly.

Danny would've answered had he been able to breathe. The man had cruelly yanked his tie upwards, letting it tighten slowly as he thrashed. They had tied his feet together before Hesse began hauling him up and down by his necktie repeatedly, and for longer intervals each time. Danny was secretly starting to regret his vehemence on wearing ties too, but he wouldn't tell Hesse that.

Victor Hesse let him drop again and he gasped, drawing in as much air as he could through his damaged windpipe. Eyes fluttering he breathed through his nose, trying not to cough or gag.

"...Me'ka..." he croaked out.

"Your cop friend? He blindly agreed to helping us – something about a cousin in the coroner's office – in exchange for your life, but since he refuses to mention anything about the rat who outed my location, I'll just have to torture it out of you and kill your partner after he gets my brother's body back..."

Danny almost sobbed at his words. He felt so helpless to do anything. It wouldn't be long before the pain and blood loss really started taking its toll...

A glint of silver caught his attention. Hesse had pulled out the knife again, letting it catch the light from the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling above.

"You know, I do a lot of trading in guns and explosives. All people want is a bigger gun than the one their enemy is holding. Same with explosives. But there's something about knives that I've always...enjoyed...more than firearms or chemicals."

He suddenly thrust the blade downward into Danny's exposed hip. Already in the fetal position, there wasn't much to do except curl tighter. Hesse ripped the knife out, standing again and using a foot to nudge Danny on his stomach, the same foot pushing down on his back holding him in place.

"Guns are so impersonal, I suppose...you should have seen my brother...Anton could throw knives so accurately that he could fit over a dozen on your body before hitting any major arteries."

The knife trailed lightly, with just enough pressure to make bloody slashes across his back. Some diagonal. Some straight across. Some with a little bit more pressure to go deeper into muscle. Danny couldn't help but flinch and moan softly in pain.

"I am still curious as to how you found out where I was. There was no rat, was there?" Hesse asked suddenly, clearly working things out in his head.

"...no..." Danny finally confirmed. "...you're just that much of a dumb schmuck..." he managed a wet, wheezing chuckle.

Another stab in the back, this time to the same shoulder he'd stabbed before, but twisting and dragging and burning down...


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: The next chapter for my Firefly story is progressing slower than I'd like, so I figured instead of waiting to finish it, I'd post another chapter for this fic. Enjoy! Reviews and constructive suggestions/commentary always welcome. :)

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"Four in an upper room on the bow. Figure seated – that's gotta be one of the two cops. The scanners are having trouble penetrating the walls further below. You'll be on your own down there." Catherine's voice chimed in through the com links.

"At least we're pretty sure one of them is still alive. Means there might be a chance that both of them are still alive on that boat." Chin pointed out helpfully.

Steve grimaced.

"Not necessarily. Why would they have been separated? We can't operate on any assumptions at this point..." And Chin nodded solemnly. Even one of the cops confirmed alive was good, but they had to still be alive by the time they secured the ship and captured Hesse, assuming he was still on board.

"Everyone knows their orders? Catherine, we'll be going black until we resurface. I'll try to respond as soon as we're clear to without compromising our position."

"Okay. Just lemme know when to send in the choppers. They're on standby about four clicks east. And good luck, Steve."

"Thanks. Let's move out, people."

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Under the cover of darkness they approached the ship, managing to set up the ropes with little to no noise. Up they went, scaling over the railing of the stern...voices could be heard nearby. Steve identified Detective Hanamoa gagged and seated, glaring at the three men surrounding him. He gestured.

A small thunk distracted the men from their target, and they glanced around in confusion until one of them finally spotted a small metal canister, smoking right near their feet.

"Shi—"

The concussive blast unfortunately disabled Meka, tied to a chair and unable to move. His head reeled at the sensation, ears ringing but eyesight luckily intact since he'd automatically closed his eye as soon as Hesse's men had turned to locate the familiar sound.

Black figures rushed up to knock weapons away and restrain the three men now on the floor. A tall figure with hazel green eyes looked into his, assessing his appearance. He tried to speak, confused for a moment before remembering the tape gagging him. The man quickly pulled the tape off and he gasped in relief.

"Guk...thanks."

"Hey. Officer Hanamoa, right?" The man said, voice quiet but commanding. He sliced through the ropes with a large knife that had been holstered to his thigh.

Meka nodded.

"My name is Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett. We need to know how many others are on board."

All of a sudden yelling and loud shots rang out and Steve quickly dragged the cop bodily down the boat and away from gunfire. Chin and Kono held their position and returned fire, making sure no one could come up from below deck.

Meka coughed, trying to test his voice. "Three more I think...no more than four. Hesse is down in the main hold...you need to get Danny out of there before Hesse kills him. Please..."

Steve's eyes tighten at the news and he nods, gripping Meka's shoulder. "Okay. Okay...here, take this firearm. If Kono and Chin have to draw back, provide cover fire until they can get to you. Can you do that?"

Meka nodded, and Steve was off, scaling the ventilation piping on the side of the central housing. Looking down, he shot several times into what was the ceiling of the entryway to the cargo holds below.

The enemy fire stopped. The three waited for a minute, then Steve signaled for Chin to proceed and jumped back down to follow.

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Danny panicked at the sensation of drowning, water flooding into his mouth and down his throat. He thrashed, and immediately was hauled up and his head free of the sink filled with water. Hesse held him up, gripping tightly, a grim smile on his face.

"Surprisingly tough for such a small size." He casually observed.

If Danny could speak, he would have given a rather sharp retort, but perhaps it was for the best that he needed all his willpower just to focus on expelling the water he'd inhaled.

His mouth always did get him in trouble, it seemed. Normally he would've sent an elbow back to hit any soft target he could reach, but he felt as weak as a kitten...

Hesse dropped him back down to the floor suddenly, as a loud bang shot through the air, echoing through the inside of the ship. Two other men came rushing to the doorway, and the three stooges looked to Hesse for instructions.

"Two of you go. One stays with me. Help me get this worthless pig up."

As they hauled his through the ship, Hesse growled in frustration as he heard more gunfire and the cries of the two men he'd sent to see what was going on. He knew exactly what was going on. McGarrett had finally managed to track him down. Well, he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Guard the door!" he shouted at the other man, dragging a limp Danny with him. The new room was dark, with scant light creeping in from the hallway and the crack in the door. He dropped Danny who fell with another sickening thud. The cop felt a cracking/popping sensation. He'd be more worried about it, but as the night had gone on, his brain had gotten more and more fuzzy. Now, he could barely think. Any processing power was devoted to more important functions, like trying to remember how to breathe.

A breeze rushed in, and all of a sudden he was heaved upwards and thrown onto the deck. Hesse grinned. Always have an escape route, he thought to himself. He roughly picked up the man and gripped him across the chest, dragging him towards the life boat access.

"Hesse! Drop him." A loud voice commanded.

Hesse growled. Well, this was why he'd still been dragging the man around, after all...

He whirled, holding Danny propped up in front of him, his knife pressing hard enough into the man's throat to create a small trickle of blood.

"Not gonna take me down, McGarrett. Not without taking your cop buddy down with me, anyways." He said, thrilled at the pained expression on the Navy SEAL's face. They were all the same. Failing the mission, losing the target, that was what really shattered military fools like McGarrett. Their weak spots.

"You know you're not getting out of this, Hesse. It's over. Put the knife down." Steve stated calmly, hiding his fear at the sight of the bloody and dazed man before him. He already looked like he could barely stand. Steve's mind calculated the amount of blood loss based on the wounds he saw and gritted his teeth in anger.

Hesse took a step back, closer to the edge. "Lay down your own weapons, commander. Or I show you what it looks like to gut a pi—"

Suddenly a shot rang out, and Hesse yelled in agony, dropping the knife as a bullet hit his upper arm. He twisted from the force of it, letting go of Danny in the process.

Steve took his chance. Three more shots fired, pushing him back further and further until he toppled over the railing and into the water below. Steve rushed forward. The short cop was shaking, doing his best to breathe through now bloody coughs. Shit.

"Catherine. I need that medivac team NOW."

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"What's wrong?" Steve asked, looking at the worried expression on the medic's face.

The chopper whizzed through the air en route to Tripler, the closest trauma center to the ship's location.

"He's going to start crashing if we don't get him enough blood back in him." She stated, trying not to sound too panicked. "There's enough blood here to maybe get him through a half hour, normally, but at the rate he's still losing it..."

"It's the same as mine. I have access to his medical records, I already know we're a match. Use my blood and start a transfusion."

"Commander, I don—" she started.

"He needs blood, I have the exact same blood type as he does, and a much bigger supply of it. There's no time to argue, let's do this." Steve stuck out his arm stubbornly.

She looked at him apprehensively, then nodded. "Just until we get closer to Tripler."

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At the hospital, things were chaotic. Both Meka and Danny were rushed to operating rooms that had been waiting on standby for their arrival. Chin, Kono, and Steve were ushered into the trauma center for a check over. Chin had gotten a graze to the thigh, and Kono a couple scrapes and bruises from hauling herself onto some crates for a better vantage point to shoot Hesse.

Later in the early hours of the morning, Kono walked into the waiting room laden down with coffee and a bag of food. Having been cleared first, she had left for a supply run. Handing one to a grateful Chin, she seated herself down on the couch he occupied and pulled out a malasada from the bag.

Steve sat on a plastic chair across from them, staring at nothing with a lost expression on his face. Now that Hesse was dead, his brain had gone straight to work processing all of the emotions he'd kept at bay until now.

"We should think of a name, while we're here." Kono's voice finally caught Steven's attention away from his thoughts.

He raised a brow quizzically. "A name?"

"You know, a team name? For the task force. But it's gotta be something cool sounding,..." She went on, encouraged by his interaction.

"What's cool sounding?" Chin asked his younger cousin.

"You know, something kick ass like 'Strike Force'." She explained.

"Umm...that makes us sound like some cheesy cop show out of the 80's."

"Fine, not strike force." Kono huffed in disgust at her cousin for shooting down her first suggestion. "Boss, any thoughts?"

"...I was thinking..."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: POV switches around a bit between Steve and Danny - hopefully the transitions make sense! Just one more chapter after this to close things out. Enjoy, and feel free to review/provide constructive critique if you so desire! :)

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Finally, a doctor arrived to give them news about the first officer, Detective Hanamoa. He'd sustained some bad bruises and a cracked rib from being kicked and punched. Along with a broken nose, a mild concussion, and a through and through gunshot wound to the leg, he would be out of commission for a while. His wife and child had come in just as they had been moving him post-op, so they were already situated in the room. Steve had been a bit surprised at the ease in which he'd convinced the doctor to let the commander in to see the detective, but said doctor had then proceeded to threaten to ban the whole team from the ICU should he upset his patient, and added a time limit the the visit for good measure.

The other cop, Danny Williams, had yet to come out of surgery. A nurse had shown up as Meka's doctor was leaving, letting them know it would be a while before any news of the detective's status would come. Seeing the exhaustion in Chin and Kono's faces, he sent them home, reassuring them that they could visit both detectives the next day, and that he'd forward a status update as soon as he knew.

He slipped into Detective Hanamoa's room quietly. The man held hands with a young woman Steve assumed was his wife. A small boy sat curled up in a large chair beside the bed asleep.

"Commander McGarrett." Meka said in slight surprise. He had assumed the task force members had all left as soon as they'd been cleared by the hospital staff. Apparently he had been wrong.

"Is this a good time? I'd like to talk to you if you're alright with it."

"...Sure. Amy, why don't you go grab something to eat? Billy's out like a light – I'll keep an eye on him." he said patting his wife's hand reassuringly. She huffed at him, but smiled. "You keep an eye on him? More like he'll look after you. I'll make sure to bring you both back something to eat while I'm out."

After she had risen and left the room, Steve quietly sat down in the vacated spot, not looking directly at Meka while he tried to gather his thoughts into something coherent.

"Don't say anything you don't mean. Or ask anything you're not ready to hear."

Startled, Steve looked up to meet Meka's cool gaze. He smoothed a hand over his mouth. "Okay." he said quietly. "...why did Danny stay on the case? When he knew..."

"Knew the risks of it blowing up in his face? Danny can be snappier than a sea turtle, but he's not stupid. When you add that on top of navigating expectations and behaviors of social norms that are a complete 180 of your own, yeah. It becomes pretty obvious that you risk a lot not trying to fit into the new mold; doing what you think is right."

"So we were right. He was being hazed by his fellow officers in HPD."

Meka hesitated, then nodded. "Captain assigned him to me after he'd bounced around for a couple months. I didn't pay too much attention at first, but once we were partnered, I noticed. Little things. Little bruises he'd hide, little snide remarks from the other cops...little excuses to exclude him from the usual post work stress relief or hang outs at the bar a lot of the cops head to after work. Always little, but always consistent. I dunno...I asked him about it, once. He's just such a..."

Meka paused, then chuckled to himself. "You know what he reminds me of? Like a little chihuahua, barking at the big dogs. Except no one ever told him that being little means he should think twice about who he goes up against. He treats it all the same."

Steve smiles at the analogy. Danny did hold some resemblance to the little dog. His golden hair, for one. Particular about who he trusted, loyal to a fault. Aggressive when threatened.

"So yeah. When he picked me up from the airport, let me know everything that had happened...he knew the consequences of us pushing forward on this without authorization. I just hadn't thought my own brothers would be so callous as to...to...abandon us." Meka's expression was pained. "No, they didn't just abandon us...they left us to die." His voice rose as the weight of his words spoken out loud hit him.

"If Danny hadn't stalled for time, tricked Hesse into thinking we had more information...I wouldn't be sitting here able to hold my wife and son."

"And you? Why did you agree to go with him? You knew it wasn't on the level."

Meka raised a brow. "You're no haole, McGarrett, white as you are – you should know he's ohana. He's my partner. I wasn't about to let him go out by himself with no backup. Plus...Danny's a good cop. One of the best. I trust his intuition...he spots patterns and connections faster than anyone I know. Probably knows more about police procedure than half the force for christ's sake."

Steve nodded meekly. He had first hand experience with exactly how good a cop Danny was. But at the time, he'd been too blind with rage to notice.

Meka paused, looking in the Navy SEAL's eyes and capturing his gaze.

"So ask me. The thing that's really on your mind."

Steve laughed weakly, shaking his head. Meka had just as much intuition as Danny, even if it seemed to be geared more towards people and less towards crimes.

"Okay. I...I want Danny back on my team. I want him on the governor's task force." it was more of a statement than a question.

Meka nodded. "Then I think you should ask him that."

Steve looked surprised. "You...you're not upset you'd be losing a partner? I'd ask you too, but no offense..." he added "...you're a good cop, but something tells me you wouldn't care for the things we'll be handling."

Meka laughed. "Don't worry, you're right on both counts. But Danny deserves some ohana. He's not gonna get that with the HPD. I wish I could say things would get better, that people change, but we both know that's not always the case. They're good cops, it's just...so yeah. And from the sound of things, you're gonna need Danny just as much as he needs you." he commented with a wry grin. "I heard about the slug to the face."

Steve groaned. "That hurt like a son of a bitch."

"Yeah? Well he does have one heck of a right hook. There's a reason I don't box with him."

Amy wandered back in. "Hey boys. Brought back some food. Would you like anything commander...?"

"I'm fine. Thank you for the offer, but I was just leaving. I want to get back to the surgery call room in case."

"Let us know when that happens, please?" Meka requested, concern returning to his face.

"I will. First thing, I promise."

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Danny's first moment of awareness yielded an unpleasant thought. And that was the fact that there was something covering his mouth, cinched tightly against his skin. Immediately that awareness morphed into steadily burgeoning panic.

His hands...he could barely even lift his hands, and there was a sharp pain stabbing through his left shoulder. His panic grew. He needed it off. Whatever it was needed to come off.

"Hey hey hey – calm down, man." A hand grasped his all of a sudden, squeezing tightly. "Calm down...listen to the sound of my voice and try to breath with me, okay? You're wearing an oxygen mask. You need to leave it on until the doc gets here. He's on his way. Just a couple minutes stuck with me as your personal nurse."

Steve stared down as hazy blue eyes finally cracked open, staring at him blearily in confusion. He grinned however as he saw the man's breathing begin to steady. Still fast and a bit belabored, but better than full blown hyperventilation.

"Commander McGarrett. Step aside for a minute if you don't mind...?"

A new face came into view.

" , glad to see you're back with us. I know you probably prefer the mask off...we can switch to nasal tubes shortly, but I need to make sure you're not having any issues with chest pain or breathing. Simple nod will do. We kept you sedated for a couple days, due to the trauma to your throat and lungs. You may or may not remember, but we had you on a respirator until the swelling was under control. We removed that a few hours ago, and you did very well. It's okay if you don't remember, you were pretty out of it."

Danny nodded. He didn't remember a respirator, but he was glad for the blank in memory. That couldn't have gone over well...his claustrophobia made it uncomfortable to have things covering his face. The idea of a tube shoved down his throat made him shudder.

Everything felt like a blur...the last the he remembered was Hesse hauling him up onto the deck of the ship. As the doctor questioned him he nodded his responses, only half paying attention as he tried fill in the blanks in his memory.

"Okay. Let's get you set up with that then and we'll go over some simple tests if you're up for it."

Did he have to? God, he was tired...Danny winced in relief as the doctor removed the mask then inserted the nasal cannula, taping it down so it wouldn't move if he did. The ex-Navy SEAL, Steve McGarrett sat in a chair near the bed, looking on with interest. The room was empty save for him and a rather large array of flowers and a few balloons. An incredibly vivid blue stuffed rabbit slumped over against a flower vase.

"Alright, there we go. Try to refrain from talking if possible. There was some minor damage to your vocal cords – nothing permanent, but I imagine it'll hurt to speak for a while and there's no sense in straining them further when we can just do a simple round of yes/no. Sound good?"

Danny nodded, looking back at the doctor.

"Alright. You know where you are?"

A nod.

"You had a mild concussion. I'm just going to check pupil response for a moment...okay. Looking good. Track my finger...? Thank you. Would you like me to run through your injuries?"

Another nod.

"When you were brought in, you'd sustained broken ribs, most likely from continuous repeated falls. One of these broken ribs had torn a small hole in your lung. Large swelling to the throat as a result of strangulation. Minor contusions to your face and body. Multiple knife wounds, lacerations to the back...the gash on your chest was becoming infected, but it looks like antibiotics have finally kicked in and your immune system is responding nicely. Of the more serious stab injuries, the ones to your left shoulder – particularly the one on the back – may have caused some nerve and muscle damage. We'll just have to take it one day at a time, and get you into rehab therapy as soon as your shoulder has healed sufficiently."

Danny winced at the last bit of news, frowning. He didn't necessarily depend on his left arm, but it was a bit scary to consider the idea of permanent damage anywhere. He suddenly wished Hesse was next to him so he could reach over and knee him in the balls again.

"For now you're going to rest. I'll have the nurse bring in some ice chips for your throat. Your emergency contact was called. She wanted you to contact her when it was possible, and that she will be catching a flight back in a day or two with your daughter as soon as they can make the arrangements."

'Rachel...? Crap, that's right.' Danny cursed to himself. When he'd transferred to the HPD, he'd known absolutely no one on the island except Rachel, so he'd left his emergency contact information as is. He hoped she didn't come back to chew him out about that. He still didn't know that many people, but at least Meka would be a better option than his mother, who got hysterical any time Danny got so much as a paper cut. At least Gracie was coming back a week early, even if he was stuck here in the hospital.

The doctor patted his leg. "Alright. I think that's everything for now. The nurses will be checking in every few hours, but if you need anything or have any questions just let them know and they'll fetch me."

As he left, Steve shifted back to the original chair, blue bunny suddenly in his hands. "Your daughter, Grace, asked me to buy this for you." he said with a smile.

'Grace? When did he...how...?' Danny frowned, confused. Why was this giant Neanderthal communicating with his daughter?

Steve seemed to guess what he was thinking, continuing. "Your ex, when they called to notify her after you got out of surgery? She wanted to know if your partner was available, but he was sleeping, so I stepped in. Then your daughter wanted to make sure you were well looked after, so..." he shook the bunny, ears flopping. "Your stand in until she gets here." Steve then tucked the bunny gently in the space between his arm and his hip, just low enough that his hand brushed the soft fur of the legs and tail.

He couldn't help but smile. His daughter did love rabbits.

"Meka is fine, by the way. Took some hits...the shot to the leg will take some time to heal, but nothing permanent. He got out earlier this morning, actually. Wanted me to tell you he's doing okay and for you to focus on getting better."

Danny opened his mouth then grimaced. Even the thought of talking hurt. Instead he looked at Steve questioningly then eased an aching arm over so his hand could poke at Steve's knee.

"Why am I here?" Danny could've sworn Steve suddenly blushed, but his eyes were tired and it was hard to tell against the tanned skin of his face. "I...well, I wanted to apologize, actually...but you've been out of it since we raided the cargo boat. Then there wasn't really anyone here that could stay with you, since Meka was cleared to go back home to rest...so I figured I'd wait around and keep you company for a bit until we could talk."

Danny gave him a blank stare.

Steve cleared his throat. "You said...you said when you get somebody shot, you apologize. I'm assuming the same logic applies for getting stabbed and beaten. So...I'm sorry. For all of it."

Danny shook his head, and lifted his arm high enough so that he could flap his hand dismissively. This was a seriously bizarre day. Muscles twitched and all of a sudden he yawned. He was exhausted.

"I'll let you get some rest—gotta go check back in on the progress with our new headquarters—but I did want to ask you to think about something."

Steve's expression grew serious.

"I'm not...I know you think I'm some military jackass with no respect for rules or authority. But I do. I'm not...I'm not a cop, and you're right, I don't know police procedure. Running a SEAL team for covert ops or high risk missions is much different than running a local police task force."

He paused, drawing a breath as Danny stared back at him looking perplexed, probably unsure of where he was going with this.

"You're a good man, and a good cop. Five-0 could use a guy like you on our team. I wasn't kidding then and I'm not now when I say I want you as my partner. But...even though I could sign off on some forms or make a few calls to make you join, I'd rather you accept on your own terms. So...so just think on it."

Steve rose. "Get some rest. I have a feeling you'd rather speak to me when your voice is healed and strong enough to yell my ears off."

Danny let out what sounded like something between a huff and a snort, but nodded and leaned back his head, eyes closing. He could think about things after a nap.

Danny was out before Steve closed the door.

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	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This is it folks! Thank you so much for the recent reviews - I was really touched by your support and interest in my Hawaii Five-0 ideas. I'll take into consideration potentially writing a sequel to this fic (or a few epilogue snippets), but in the meantime I have two other ideas sitting in the queue, one of which already has a first chapter written! Things will be pretty busy over the next couple weeks with real life, so expect to see the new story posted sometime around the start of July (along with another chapter for my long suffering Firefly and Smash fics).

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Two days later Danny found his little girl in his arms. He carefully cradled her to him, unable to give her the hug he wanted. Gracie had been warned by her mother before entering the hospital to be gentle, but she couldn't help but wrap her arms around her Danno.

"Really, Daniel, did you have to wait until after we had left Hawaii to go and get injured?" Rachel commented, tone lightly teasing.

"...yeah, not really sorry about that..." Danny croaked. It was still slightly painful to talk, but things were getting better. His ribs still hurt like a mother, and his left shoulder and arm were immobilized so he couldn't tell much until it healed, but Grace was here, and life was now infinitely better.

Meka had visited the day before, wheeled in with his wife and son. He was glad to see the man was alright. He'd had nightmares of Hesse shooting his partner, slitting his throat...gruesome and traumatic enough that he'd woken up and puked over the side of the bed. That hadn't been fun with his damaged throat. He'd been thinking a lot about borrowed time since they'd been captured, and he knew the nightmares wouldn't be going away for a while after this.

"Danno, do you want any ice? We brought a cup for you." his daughter's voice pipped up.

"Thanks, monkey."

"When do you get released?" Rachel inquired, handing their daughter the cup so she could sit on the bed and feed him ice cubes piece by piece.

"Tomorrow. They wanted to make sure the swelling in my throat was mostly gone before clearing me."

"Well, I'm glad. Grace can stay with us while you recover..." Danny froze, concerned, but then she continued. "...and whenever you're ready, you can have her over for whatever time you miss. I figured you'd want to be able to do things with her while you're still on leave from work."

"...who are you, and what have you done with my ex?" Danny said with a weak laugh. She shook her head at him, exasperated.

"I'm not cruel, Daniel."

"Danno...why do you think mom is Cruella?"

Danny winced as he tried not to laugh. "Not Cruella, monkey. Nevermind. Thanks Rach, for the offer. I'll give you a call to set that up."

"You do that. Will you be alright at home on your own?" she asked quietly. Danny thought she looked a bit worried. Maybe his wife still had a heart after all.

"I'll be fine. Couch so I can sleep without my ribs hurting. Can't cook but I can get things delivered."

She nodded, looking unconvinced. "Alright. Well, take care of yourself Danny..."

The nurse walked in, ready to give Danny his next check-up.

"Gotta go, Monkey. Give Danno a kiss, huh?"

He tried to ignore the ache as his daughter left. It was better to get her later though, and he was grateful not to have to fight Rachel for it for once.

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The next day Danny was getting assistance from the nurse to ease himself into a wheelchair. He was more than ready to head home and sleep in a familiar place again.

"Danny! Hey, bring him over here. I brought the car up."

What. The. Hell? Danny's eyes widened in surprise. What was he doing here?

That familiar grin, looking suspiciously smug, got even wider at Danny's shock. Steven walked up to them, and the nurse blushed and stepped away from his chair returning Steve's smile as if it was directed to her instead of Danny.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he said loudly, voice still rough and a bit gravelly.

"Meka called. Said he wanted to pick you up himself, but Billy's at home sick with the flu, so he asked if I could grab you and take you home." Steve explained.

"I called a cab, you moron."

"Yeah, I know. Ran into him on my way in, so I told him that you changed your mind."

"You WHA-"

"Hey, calm down bud. Tell me you'd rather get a free lift than pay thirty bucks for a cab ride home."

"But-"

"AND I already know where you live!" Steve pointed out brightly. "Except you live in a shit hole, so I thought I'd bring you make to my place. I have the spare room all set up for you."

"Wait. Stop. You are NOT taking me back to your place. You are taking me back to MY place. I'm not some helpless maiden you can throw over your shoulder and take back to your neanderthal cave." Danny exclaimed, his right hand waving about emphatically.

"I'm not gonna carry you. You're too heavy." Steve said bluntly, trying not to smile too widely.

"You..." Danny was starting to wonder just how crazy this man really was if it was beginning to render him speechless.

"Let's go! I brought your Camero, figured you'd want it back from the police impound lot."

Danny ears perked up at the thought of his beloved car. He sighed, finally giving into what was clearly the second kidnapping of the week for him. Hopefully this one wouldn't end in him getting shot. "Alright, fine. Just get me out of here, okay? Then we are going to have a long talk in the car about personal boundaries and what legally constitutes as kidnapping and endangerment."

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Steve thought things were going as well as they could, given that Danny seemed to still be in considerable pain, and that the pain created from moving into the car and then out of it and up the steps of his house made him cross and rather snappy. That sea turtle analogy Make had made really was spot on. They'd argued over which place Danny was staying at the entire ride over. Danny had threatened bodily harm, but Steve had pointed out that there was no way he could take him with one arm out of commission, and a guest bed was more comfy than a pull out in a shitty studio apartment. In the end, it was the cable and offer to bring him beer on demand that won him over. As it was, Steve was just happy Danny was talking to him. He'd been nervous before he'd gone to pick Danny up, that the man really did hate him and want nothing to do with him.

Of course that still might be the case...it was kind of hard to tell sometimes.

He fluffed up some pillows on the lanai chairs as Danny hobbled outside with shirt and bandages in hand, wearing a pair of loose pants. It was warm, but he'd brought blankets just in case. The nurse had given him the pamphlet with Danny's outpatient care, and he'd quickly scanned through it while the short cop was taking a shower.

"Here. Sit down and I'll wrap you up."

Danny grunted out a thanks as he weakly plopped down into the chair. The large gash on his chest looked ugly, black stitches sticking out against pale skin. His back was covered in slashes, but the worst was the stab wound to the back of his shoulder. The knife had been plunged deep then twisted and dragged downwards parallel to his shoulder blade; a solid four inches down.

"Not very pretty I know..." Danny had noticed Steve's stares.

"Eh, well I heard there are these tattoo artists now – they ink up scar tissue for people like women who've had a mastectomy due to cancer, or domestic abuse victims who struggle with the associated memories. We could always get you a few tats...a shoulder sleeve might make you feel more like a local."

Danny glared. "I am not getting any tattoos, McGarrett."

"Why not? A turtle would be appropriate."

"A tur...appropriate? Why would a turtle be "appropriate"? And what is with that constipated look on your face?"

"I don't look constipated."

"But there's a look. You have a look, my friend."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Tear me a few strips of tape, will you?"

Danny huffed, but complied, ripping pieces of medical tape off and attaching them on fingers so Steve could reach over and get them.

"Alright. There you go." the jersey cop let out a relieved sigh then lent back slowly to recline in the chair.

"Beer?"

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

They stared out into the ocean, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Why did you stick with it?"

"...stick with what? The case?"

"The case. Hesse."

"..." Danny shifted restlessly. "Your father deserved justice. At the time...it felt like you were going for revenge. Those are two very, very different things."

"You thought I wasn't capable of controlling myself?" Steve asked bluntly.

"... I didn't think you would stop long enough to build up the case. Preserve evidence so when you did catch him, there'd be no way he could wiggle his way out of the law. The first time I met you, you were removing evidence from the crime scene for Christ's sake. You contaminated the whole house."

"I didn't know you."

"That shouldn't have mattered." the injured cop scolded.

Steve sighed, raking a hand through his short dark hair. "No...you're right. I should have taken the time to work with you until I knew exactly what to do."

"Yeah, well, I suppose I could cut you a break this time around..."

"This time?" Steve perked up so fast that Danny couldn't help but smile.

"Someone's got to keep you from blowing up things all over this damned tropical sand pit. Plus, I'm pretty sure I'll be more useful on the task force than HPD at this point." he grumbled, sighing wearily.

The Navy SEAL frowned.

"Speaking of...we...we caught the guys interfering with dispatch. I spoke with the captain, and they're all on indefinite suspension. I wanted to wait until I could talk with you about it. Was there anything or anyone else...any specific sort of harassment I should know about?"

Danny swallowed, looking uncomfortable. He turned to stare back out at the ocean waves gently lapping at the shoreline.

"Most stuff, you see no matter where you go. Guys pulling rank, mostly because that's what was done to them. You're military, you know how it goes. But...that was the second time I had trouble with dispatch. I don't know who was involved the first time. It happened day after I got dropped from the case, and the guy I was trying to bring in bolted on me. Second day, a few guys decided to let me know how they felt about a haole getting assigned to cases that were above me."

"What?" Steve growled, growing upset at his words. "What did they do? Why didn't you report that?"

"Hey, calm down. It was mostly words...luckily for me when it started getting physical they underestimated me. I put them down pretty quick." Danny said with a shrug. He took a swig of his beer.

"That's not the point. It shouldn't have happened in the first place, it's unacceptable. You're going to come with me to see the captain and this is going to get resolved once and for all." he said, voice slightly raised in frustration. Whether it was at the men or himself, Danny wasn't quite sure.

"Alright, alright..." he responded soothingly, hands raised up. "You can lower your hackles, McGarrett."

"Steve."

"...Steven. Can it at least wait a few days so I don't fall over in front of the captain?" Danny queried in a light tone.

For a minute Danny got no response. But then Steve finally sighed, releasing the tension he'd been holding. "Fine."

It would be an issue for another day. They sat in silence once again, staring out at the beautiful sunset descending slowly into the horizon.

"...I'm sorry for what happened to you. It was my fault." the commander said softly.

"Woah, woah, wait. What are you talking about?" Danny turned to look Steve in the eye. "You goof, what makes you think you're that important?"

"If I hadn't shoved you—"

"Then they'd have just found some other excuse. Bad people don't always need reasons to do bad things, Steven. And there are always a few bad apples in the precinct. There were in New Jersey, and there'll be others outside of the HPD. You find them and you deal with them as they come."

He stared Steve down until he was convinced his words had finally been driven down into that thick skull of his.

"I appreciate your apologies. They have all been noted...acceptance pending."

That comment finally got a snort of laughter from the Navy SEAL. Danny grinned back at him, taking another swig of his beer. There was a lot of uncertainty in his future, but he did know it was not going to be boring around this man.


End file.
